Lily Potter and the Uppas of Declome
by Elliot Pole
Summary: Harry's daughter is now going to Hogwarts, but what happens when she's put in Hufflepuff? Find out!
1. Chapter 1

Lily Potter and the Uppas of Declome

**Lily Potter and the Uppas of Declome**

**Chapter One**

"You will never be your father, Albus," said a dark, raspy voice. The man who spoke had red slits for eyes and a very pale face. He had his wand out, pointing it straight at a boy. The only thing between them was a table, and the boy could not expect it to jump in front of him if the older wizard decided to launch an attack.

"If you set your mind to it, you can accomplish anything," the boy said in rejoinder.

"But you'll never achieve what Harry Potter has. You're just his son, just a wannabe."

"No, you're wrong!" Albus shouted, fully believing that he was capable of great things.

"And James is better than you. At least he excels at Quidditch. But all you can do is sit back and watch as Rose Weasley answers every question your teachers bring up."

"I'm still very intelligent."

"But she is more so. She is the pride and joy of her parents, and what are you? Just a copycat, named after two useless people, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape."

"No, they were great men—Father says so!"

"But how was I able to kill them if they were so great? How could I have taken the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb and then killed Snape with it, to gain all the power it held?"

"MY FATHER KILLED YOU!"

"You think so, do you? No, I assure you, Albus, that my death was caused by my own means, and not those of your imbecilic father. I decided the Muggle world was not worth living in, there being six billion of them and only a smattering of our kind. And now I inhabit your mind!"

"NOOO!" Albus exclaimed, as a stream of green light floated toward him from Voldemort's wand…

There was the sound of a lamp breaking somewhere, and then breathing. Someone was shaking him. "Albus, wake up! Wake up!"

The redheaded boy opened his sleep-lidded eyes, struggling to see. Someone had cast the Lumos spell and was standing in front of him. He made out the shape of his brother.

"James?"

"You were having a nightmare. Dad will be down in a minute."

At that moment, Harry poked his head in the room his sons shared. "Who had a nightmare?"

"I did," Albus said, although he didn't believe it was merely a dream.

"What was it about?" he asked, for Albus was his favorite son; it is almost certain that if James had a nightmare, Harry would've just left, for the worst dream James ever had was that he failed to catch the Snitch at a Hufflepuff game. It was always Hufflepuff that made James the most agitated, because he looked down on people unfortunate enough to be put in that House as his inferiors.

"Voldemort was speaking to me saying I was worthless and that you hadn't killed him—he had done it himself."

"Albus, you're not worthless. And, in a sense Voldemort did kill himself. He didn't show any remorse for his actions, did he? But, if it still worries you, come down and have a glass of hot cocoa."

Albus did as his father suggested. He needed something warm flowing through his veins, anyhow.

"Cheer up, son. This year the Triwizard Tournament is going to be held at your school and even though you won't get to participate, you'll get to see a lot of action."

"Man, I wish I was old enough already! Why do they only allow seventeen-year-olds in?" the boy asked, giving off the veneer of having recovered from his dream.

"It is very dangerous, as you'll soon see. This will be the first time any of you kids get to see it. And it'll be Lily's first year at Hogwarts. She may look up to you, Albus, who knows? It is always awkward at her age; that's when people tend to cling to their older siblings."

This did brighten up Albus' spirits a little, for he liked Lily reasonably well. She was a kind sister and an austere friend; no one would ever expect her to betray him. After a few more minutes, he went off to bed, and Harry gazed at the fire, recalling the challenges of a Hungarian Horntail, a horde of obstinate merpeople, and a Sphinx that asked him a question in which the answer was "Spider."

A fortnight later, Harry, Ginny, and their three kids stood on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Lily ran to greet her cousin, Hugo Weasley, who was also a first-year. It was expected that they would be closer than peanut butter and jelly at Hogwarts. They boarded the train together, hand-in-hand.

Rose met with Albus. She was in Ravenclaw, her intelligence too sublime for her to have been thrust into Gryffindor, even though her mother had belonged to that House. James tried to engage her in a conversation regarding Quidditch, but her mind was too fine for such things. Albus went with her on the train, to get in a compartment with Arnold Chumpunk, whose parents were Muggles.

James was about to board the train, when Ginny noticed somebody that looked rather familiar walking about with her son. The lady was tall and thin, with mousy cheeks. Her husband was with her. He was very stodgy, looking lost and confused. The boy was frightened and pale, seeming unsure if going to Hogwarts was the right thing to do.

Ginny's eyes were fixed on the woman and Harry asked what was the matter. "I think I know her, as if she was in a dream."

Ron was staring too. "Oh, it's _her."_ he said, bemused.

"Who?" Hermione asked, in a tone that bordered on threatening.

"The one who used to call me 'Won-Won.' But it's strange, who is that she married?"

The Potters and the Weasleys approached Lavender Brown, for indeed it was she. And Harry knew instantly whom she had married.

"Dudley!"

The bear of a man punched his cousin hard in the chest, causing Harry to bend forward. "Long time no see, isn't it, chump?"

"So you're Dudley Dursley?" asked Hermione, politely, albeit wincing at the greeting Dudley had given Harry. "It's funny we've never met."

"This is my wife Ginny," Harry said, straightening up, his cousin's way of greeting causing but a minor pain, "and these are my friends, Ron and Hermione. Oh, yeah, and there's James, my son."

"How d'ye do?" Harry's cousin asked. "This is _my _wife, Lavender." The woman thus addressed was blushing deep-scarlet: it was very awkward being introduced to a man one had kissed before.

"We know her," everybody said. "She was in our year at Hogwarts."

"And finally, this is Patrick. He just turned eleven," Dudley said, introducing the kid who seemed to be eager to hide.

"Reminds me of you when you were a chap," Harry remarked, "except without the thick skin." It was remarkable to see the skinny lad next to his chubby father. Dudley informed the gang that Patrick shied away from food as much as possible; the mere thought of eating was so distasteful to him.

Harry induced James to take Patrick with him on the bus so that Dudley's son would not feel so alone. He had special regard for his nephew, remembering the horrible treatment his uncle and aunt had imposed upon him since the day he was found on their doorstep. Just then the train gave a whistle and the elder boy took the younger by the arm and ran with him to jump on the vehicle, which had already started to move when someone pulled them inside.

"Oh, thank you, Yerris," James said to his would-be girlfriend. He already made plans to ask her to the Yule Ball—which his father had told him about—but it was too early to worry about that at the present moment.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Yerris asked.

"Yes, this is Patrick Dursley. I think he's my second cousin, or something; just met him today."

Patrick waved five shaky fingers and Yerris asked James if he could stay in their compartment. James was so thrilled at being invited to share a compartment with Yerris that he didn't mind having the little bugger tag along, although he planned to dislodge himself of this burden as soon as possible.

While this was going on, Lily and Hugo were engaged in an intriguing conversation. "We'll both be in Gryffindor, just you wait!" the former said.

At that moment, a pale-faced third year with a pointed chin came into their compartment. "Don't count your dragons before they hatch," he told them.

"What do you want, Scorpius?" Lily asked, resentfully.

There was a long pause, as if Scorpius was contemplating his answer very carefully. At last he said, "A friend."

"Friendships are not born out of nothing, you know," Lily remarked. "And why do you think I would consider liking you when you are so cruel to my brothers?"

"Look, Potter, we have to make a pact," Scorpius said, making his voice sound sincere. "Our families have had this rivalry ever since both our fathers were at Hogwarts. It's time it ended, for the Potter-Weasley feud is worthless, fought over nothingness, as far as I can understand. So your dad rebuffed mine. Big whoop. But it's about time we made up."

"Well, you can start by being kind to my brothers," Lily remarked.

"I fear you ask too much of me. I'm a Slytherin, and I'm Draco's son. To be kind is not exactly in my nature," he said, twiddling his thumbs.

"You can at least try," Lily said, feeling that maybe Scorpius wasn't so bad after all.

"Perhaps, he said, leaving. "Or I can hope that the Sorting Hat puts you in Slytherin," he added, laughing as he left their compartment.

Lily stared after him, wondering what that had all been about. That seemed totally out of character for Scorpius, at least according to the accounts James and Albus gave of him. Was he trying to pull something over her? What could it be?

"We should probably get our school robes on soon," her cousin said.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Hugo left his cousin alone so she could change. When he came back half an hour later, he was dressed as well, and he was carrying myriad treats from the snack cart. "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cherry Ants, Sugar Mice…they have everything on this train."

"I'll take a frog," Lily said, grabbing one. She had a large collection of cards, and she was shooting for the whole set. "Hmm…Art Paldstone (1774-1812), Perfected the Hovering Charm and turned whalebone into a trumpet which is used to soothe dragons who have gone out of control."

"Sounds like an interesting guy. I expect we'll be learning a lot about wizards in History of Magic."

"I don't reckon so. Albus told me its just a bunch of Gobbledegook about goblins named Erd the Weird and Ballant the Terrible who started bloody wars and stuff."

"We get enough about war from listening to your father," Hugo said.

"Yeah."

For the rest of the ride to Hogwarts they spoke of various topics, without any interruption. At last, the train stopped.

"First years, first years, over here."

Lily pulled Hugo after her and they approached the gamekeeper, who was rather sleazy with a long beard that reached the floor. Partick was there too, along with thirty-nine other students.

"I'm Brodd and you'll be riding in boats with me. See there?" the gamekeeper said, pointing. "No more than four to each one."

Lily and Hugo climbed in one boat together along with two other children. They rode through a tunnel and ended up on the side of the looming castle. Brodd ushered them all in, where they met a man with slick hair and red robes. "I am Professor Acklehort, and I will be teaching you Transfiguration. But that is immaterial at the moment. As Deputy Headmaster I must lead you into the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your Houses."

They followed him down a narrow passageway and led up to giant brass doors, which the professor opened. In two rows they walked before the eyes of the older students and Lily admired the floating candles and general mystique of the Great Hall. She glanced over at the Gryffindor table, where Albus was waving at her.

At the end of the Hall, there was a chair with a dusty hat on it, which Lily knew to be the one used for sorting. It certainly looked queer, unlike any cap she had ever laid eyes on.

"You will put on the Sorting Hat," Professor Acklehort said, "as I call you up alphabetically. When your House is chosen, you be required to sit at the indicated table before the next pupil can take his or her turn. And now, let the sorting—begin!"

Each of the forty-two students stood nervously, waiting for their turn.

"Alvost, Norton."

A boy with sandy hair stepped forward and placed the hat on his own crest.

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table with a flag depicting a bird roared in congratulations to their new comrade, inviting him to sit down.

"Azzos, Susan."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Again the applause, the excitement. Lily knew only too soon that it would be the Gryffindors cheering her on.

"Dursley, Patrick."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Scorpius had an empty seat next to him and Patrick was invited to sit there. Lily did not know it was her cousin who had just been sorted, for she had not had a chance to talk to James yet and, of course, she had already been on the train when the Dursleys showed up.

Many more names were called before at last she heard Professor Acklehort say, "Potter, Lily!"

All eyes were fixed on her as they had been for her father twenty-eight years before. She was the first girl who bore Harry's surname and any connection with her would be a direct link to the greatest living historical figure. There was not a person in the room not holding her/his breath, not even Lily.

As soon as the hat had touched her head, it pronounced its judgement, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Never before in the history of Hogwarts did that House give off such a round of applause as it did now. Everyone from their table was standing and shouting; it was so deafening that people from other tables had their ears covered with magical earmuffs. Lily meandered around other tables to reach the Hufflepuffs, crying a little, her face red—she had been so sure she would be in Gryffindor! When she got to the table, some sixth and seventh years lifted her on their shoulders as if she had been a star player in a Quidditch game. "SHE'S OURS!"

It was a full ten minutes before everyone calmed down and Lily was able to take a seat. She wanted to be alone, but she knew the opportunity would not come for an awful long while. Lowering her head, she tried to tune out the rest of the expedition.

"Ahem…well, that was—breathtaking," said Professor Acklehort. "But we still have a handful of students left to sort, so let's move on. Quasnos, Feveral!"

After he had gone a little further down the list he at last got to, "Weasley, Hugo!"

Ron and Hermione's son approached the chair and he was crested with the Sorting Hat. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Before he left the front, he glanced over at Lily, who had lifted her head just to view his Sorting. Smiling apologetically, he waltzed over to the Gryffindor table and sat between James and Albus. The latter was bitterly disappointed. He had been hoping that his sister would be in his House so that he could guide her and now one of his expectations about this year were gone. Recalling his dream, he shuddered and thought he heard Voldermort whispering in his ear, "You're worthless! You'll never be your father!"

The Deputy Headmaster read a few more names that were sorted and then he rolled up his scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. When he came back, he went to the teacher's table. He was in sharp contrast to everyone else there. His red robes were vividly conspicuous against the black ones of his colleagues.

Professor McGonagall stood up. She was now Headmistress, had been so for many a year. "Welcome, all. For our first years, I say be proud to be here at last. Everyone else, enjoy the continuation of your tenure here at Hogwarts. Now, I would like to introduce you to a new staff member. As most of you know, Professor Inklebot was getting too old to continue teaching here, so without further ado, I'd like you to meet your new Charms teacher, Professor Ivan Sootboro!"

A man in his early twenties with an aquiline nose stood up. He bowed and people cheered. It was always exciting to see a fresh face in their professors—the same old bunch every year did get a little monotonous after a while. Sootboro resumed his seat.

"For our first years, we have some rules to announce and you can't say after tonight that you were not forewarned. All artifacts, gadgets, and doodads from the store known as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are barred from use. And no one is permitted to enter the Forbidden Forest without explicit permission from an adult. That said, let's eat!"

Instantly plates appeared on the tables in front of everyone, along with dishes of pot roast, venison, steaming vegetable, mashed potatoes, sandwiches with waterwurst, and countless other food. There were also goblets of pumpkin juice for each student that refilled instantly whenever someone had drunk the whole glass.

A fourth-year noticed that Lily was not eating. "Is something wrong?" he asked her.

"No," she lied. She reached for a chicken leg—her least favorite part—to give off a semblance of being okay, but she could barely take four bites before she felt like vomiting.

Pretty soon, all of the main dishes disappeared and were replaced by chocolate pudding, treacle tarts, eclairs, cinnamon buns, and glazed doughnuts. Yet still Lily reached for nothing. She was too miserable to eat. Glancing over at the Slytherin table, she saw Scorpius chatting animatedly with her cousin. Why didn't she take his advice? Being in Slytherin would be way better than being in this joke of a House! Look at what they had for a mascot, by Merlin! A stupid badger! As opposed to a lion, a snake, or an eagle, the badger was absolutely pathetic. Hufflepuffs were supposedly the leftovers, the people that just didn't fit. Lily could feel her own mediocrity running through her veins. How could a daughter of Harry Potter—the wizard who rid the world of the most evil force that ever existed—how could she be just another commonplace stooge? She had really believed herself to be exceptional just by the distinction her father gave her, but if she couldn't even be in his House, what was the point?

At last, everyone had their fill and Professor McGonagall stood up once more. "There is one more thing you must be made aware of. The Triwizard Tournament is to be held this year and only those students who are of age may participate. Our competition will arrive near the end of October and I expect you to be on your absolute best behavior when they do. You are now dismissed."

Some Hufflepuff prefects called the first years over. They went out of the Great Hall, through a strange door, down some stone steps, and past a hall full of paintings depicting food. At last they reached the door to the Hufflepuff dormitories, in which a badger statue was blocking the way. "Password?" it asked.

"_Bricklebrit," _said one of the prefects and the badger gave way. Lily saw her first glimpse of the Hufflepuff common room, which was stranger than anything she could have imagined. There were chintz chairs around tables for studying. Fleurs-de-lis covered the wall, and there was a giant pool in the center of the room.

The prefects led the first years over to the pool, which was not really a body of water but only looked like one.

"The purpose of this is to view your family at home. Whenever you feel down and out, you can just approach this psuedo-pool and think happy thoughts. Sort of like when you're casting a Patronus—though most of you won't catch that allusion, I suppose, although Lily here certainly would!"

All eyes turned to Harry's daughter. Of course she would know all about Patronuses—her father was the worst fear of all dementors.

The female prefect resumed speaking. "If you lose sight of these thoughts, your family will disappear from the pool's waves. Most likely, if their faces are wan and they have suffered a great deal, you will only see them for a second before they vanish, for that feeling will be reflected in you. Now, this pool is the secret of Hufflepuffs; the other Houses are not allowed to know about it. I will now show the girls to their dormitories, and the boys can go with Peter."

Lily and four other girls followed the prefect up some stairs. There were several rooms and they were led to one with the words "First Years" sparkling in purple and yellow glitter.

Five four-poster beds awaited the new Hufflepuffs and their luggage was already there in a neat little pile. The prefect left them to sort out whose things were whose after telling them to get a good nights' sleep because lessons would commence the next day.

One of the girls approached Lily. "So, you're the Potter girl? I'm Bethany Garfinch."

Bethany was wearing star-shaped glasses and had her hair tied in a bun. The other three were staring at Lily, mouths agape.

"There's nothing extraordinary about me," Lily said, "so what's all the fuss?"

"Are you kidding? I was talking to Elizabeth Porkner, Hufflepuff's Head Girl, and she said that your presence in our House was the best thing since Cedric Diggory in your father's day. For centuries the Hufflepuffs have been the joke of Hogwarts—but with you in our midst, we'll be able to make astonishing comebacks."

"But I'm just another girl, that's why I'm in Hufflepuff—the leftovers. I wasn't good enough to be in the other Houses, so what makes you thing I'll bring prestige to yours?"

"You're lacking in self-confidence," said one of the others, who had pigtails and cerise-colored eyebrows. "I'm Susan Azzos, and I think that even if you don't have high spirits, just your presence in our House will elevate everybody's morale and eventually the other Houses will be forced to see that Hufflepuff does have what it takes!"

The other girls cheered, but Lily was not consoled. "Let's speak of this in the morning, please?" Then they left her alone.

As she fell into a deep slumber, she wondered if, once her parents discovered her House placement and she peered into the Hufflepuff pool, she would see the bitterest disappointment spread across their faces. She could remember two years ago, when her uncle had facetiously said, "If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disown you." James, Albus, and Hugo had made it, but she had failed.

She had unsettling dreams that night. A thestral was gliding through the air, while a lion ran below it, planning to catch the thestral in its claws when the beast chose to descend. As she had never seen anyone die, the thestral in her dream was not as realistic as the ones who drove the Hogwarts carriages. But that did not matter, for the thestral turned into a badger, falling out of the air and landing on the lion's back. In her dream, Lily thought of a story her father had read her many years ago, about a fox who lured a gingerbread man onto his back so that he could eat him. And as she watched, the lion flung the badger off, sending the poor creature toward a tree, where it fell to the ground, dead. Then the lion devoured it. Lily woke up with beads of sweat running down her face.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily Potter – Chapter Two

**Lily Potter and the Uppas of Declome**

**Chapter Two**

Lily, Bethany, Susan, and the seven other Hufflepuff first years, trudged down to the greenhouses the following morning. They shared the class with Gryffindor, which bothered Lily. She felt uncomfortable being near the kids whose House she _should _have been a part of. Hugo greeted her a half-minute before Professor Longbottom showed up.

"Hey, Lily, how's it going?"

"I don't want to talk to you."

"But—"

"Shut it, cousin." Lily had never called Hugo "cousin" before. It was as if she resented that they had been friends ever since they could remember. How could different Houses cause such a rift between family members?

"Hello, class," said Professor Longbottom. He was a tad overweight, and his face held a shadow of remorse, as if he had done something horrible and wished he could take it back. His robes were a verdant green, perhaps to match the plants he loved so much. He pulled out a roll of parchment and called roll. When he got to Lily Potter's name, he looked at her. "Ah, Harry's daughter. Welcome to Hogwarts. Too bad you couldn't have been in my House, but you can't have everything."

Lily wondered which House Professor Longbottom headed. As he demonstrated to them how to handle snargluffs (which looked like purple cabbages), her mind drifted. She didn't notice how glum Hugo had become.

When the bell sounded, Lily led the Hufflepuffs away from the greenhouses. In a half-hour they'd have to be at History of Magic.

Professor Binns still taught the class. He was the only teacher from the time of Lily's father still teaching at Hogwarts. This was partly due to his being a ghost, and partly due to his refusal to take Professor McGonagell's advice to allow someone else to take his place.

Lily tried to listen to him, but his voice just droned on and on about goblin wars. He made them sound as dull as the process for making Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, which involved putting a vivicrator on a humflax shimblauge and pressing the genwan while whirling a dwig and saying the words _Yuvver Wuvver _thirty minutes after consuming a large helping of strawberry shortcake.

It couldn't be over too soon. Lunchtime arrived, and after that the Hufflepuffs had Potions with Ravenclaw.

Potions was taught by a medium-weight, enthusiastic witch named Professor Hamflox. If your concoction was bad, due to a lack of following rules, she'd say, "Well, I think you'll enjoy having this for your beverage instead of pumpkin juice tonight at dinner, hmmm?" It greatly annoyed Lily, though she knew Professor Hamflox wouldn't really force her pupils to drink foul potion, would she?

The next day they had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Uvburn. Bethany whispered in Lily's ear after class that Professor Uvburn looked like the Dracula she saw in an old horror movie with that name. Lily had expected something more exciting than waiting for her shadow to separate from her body, which Professor Uvburn had ordered the class to do during that first session. "Concentrate on releasing the dark side of yourself. Do it with all your ability. Your shadow is a separate entity, and you must know when it is not a part of you, for it might turn on you and cause you to suffer."

One kid said, "Aw, come on. Shadows can't harm you."

"You'd be surprised, kid. What's your name?"

"Midley Hooton."

"Well, Mr. Hooton, let me assure you that your shadow is your worst enemy. And if it becomes loose, it will be your equal. You will not be able to destroy it without destroying yourself."

"Have you ever been separated from your shadow, sir?" asked a girl.

"Yes," said Professor Uvburn. "In fact, I only have half a shadow left."

At signs of their disbelief, he stood in the middle of the room, candlelight revealing his shadow. The head and torso were missing. Only the legs and waist were seen.

Thus, Professor Uvburn inspired the class to concentrate on separating their shadows.

Lily's brain hurt as she left the classroom. She went to eat a Chocolate Frog. The card was Ralphus Motting, a wizard who had mixed blancmange and porridge to make porrmange. From 1234 to 1262, porrmange was a delicacy, but no one had tried it again till 1640, and only wizards who dwelled in caves near Lappland still eat it today.

After consuming the Frog, Lily rushed to her first Charms class. The Hufflepuffs shared the class with the Slytherins. Susan whispered to Lily that she thought the professor was kind of cute.

"My name is Professor Sootboro. I will be teaching you the wonderful and exact art of…well, Charms. We charm folks to make them like us. No, I'm kidding. Please laugh."

A few students forced themselves to laugh. There was nothing humorous about Professor Sootboro's statements.

"That's how Muggles use the word 'charm,' anyhow. Today we will only be covering the basics." Then, in an undertone that the class could barely hear, "Curse Doomis Doggfield, who created the most basic rules of basic Charms. Gosh how much I want to…" He smiled. "I'm sorry, class. My thoughts just keep pouring out. Pay no heed."

He demonstrated how they should handle their wands. "Of course, each spell you will l earn in here requires a different wand motion, but the first few I will show you require a flick like this."

So far, Lily's favorite first class had been in Charms.

Professor Acklehort's Transfigured into a hog before their eyes. It had white markings, though it was mostly black. It reminded Lily of her cat, Parsniffers, who had died two years before, eating a poisonous leaf. Of course, Parsniffers did not have a snout or a pig's tail, but the markings were in similar spots.

Then Professor Acklehort handed the class matches that they were supposed to turn into needles. Patrick Dursley stared at his wand. His mother rarely did magic around the house, and so he had rarely seen a wand being used, except when they visited Lavender's family, which only occurred once ever two years. He didn't like his Grandpa Vernon. When Vernon found out Dudley was marrying a witch, he told Dudley he was disowning him. Four years later he called and apologized, but said that he would not lay eyes on Lavender and the m-word must never be mentioned when Dudley visited with Vernon's grandson. The instant Patrick got his letter, he thought, _I will associate only with witches and wizards. I hate Muggles. Not my father, though. But all of the others suck._

This is probably why the Sorting Hat chose him for Slytherin. Usually, half-bloods would be barred from that House. Only once in a blue moon was an exception made. The first day, Patrick learned from his friend, Scorpius Malfoy, that the most wicked wizard in recent history was a half-blood, and he had been put in Slytherin. But Patrick seemed to show general contempt toward other half-bloods, and Patrick wondered why Scorpius chose him for a friend.

Lily was oblivious to the things going on inside Patrick's head. It wouldn't have mattered to her, anyway. Though he was her cousin as much as Hugo, she barely knew him. She was still worried that she'd be scoffed at by her family for being put in the "rejects House," as she dubbed Hufflepuff inside her head. Tonight, she would look in the pool and spy on her parents, for they would be aware of her House placement by now.

She rushed through dinner. It tasted like paste, even though she ate a four-square meal. Then she hurried to the Hufflepuff dormitories. Just as she was about to descend the stairwell that would take her there, James showed up.

"Lily, don't feel bad about being in Hufflepuff," he said. "You were always the marshmallow in the family, anyway."

"And I suppose you and Albus are the chocolate?" Lily asked, on the verge of tears.

"Yes, and Mum and Dad are the graham crackers."

"James, your jokes are lame. And thanks for telling me in a subtle way that I'm pathetic."

She hurried down the stairs. James made to follow her, but his girlfriend stopped him. He didn't think of Lily again until much later.

Lily said the password and the badger statue jumped aside. Then she ran over to the pool. She tried to think of something happy, but nothing came to mind. She felt so miserable. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see her family in the pool's clear waters.


	3. Chapter 3

Lily Potter and the Uppas of Declome

**Lily Potter and the Uppas of Declome**

**Chapter Three**

After a week, Lily felt boggled down with work. Charms was still her favorite class, though Professor Sootboro occasionally made comments about Drefflis Splinter, who wrote the book _Codfish Simple Charmwork _in 1406, or Elkias Wimple, the master of the Re-Enaction Charm.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was an interesting spectacle. Uvburn showed them Bulgarian glowworms in a jar one day. These glowworms could seep into your skin and sap your mental ability slowly. The only way to become oblivious to this power is to eat bananas for twenty-four hours straight before letting the glowworms get into you.

"Why would you _want _the glowworms in you?" Susan Azzos had asked.

"Because if you enter a wizarding duel with the Bulgarian glowworms in your body, you will be impervious to most minor jinxes," said the Professor.

"How do we get them out once the duel is over?"

"Think of cute things. Butterflies, bunnies, Easter eggs, a kitten wearing a bow, or even a smiling rainbow. The Bulgarian glowworm can't stand cuteness, so it will pop right out."

Most of the boys in the class grimaced. They did not like the idea of thinking of cute things.

Lily did not like Astronomy at all. It was taught by a witch named Ogliothorpe, and she treated the first years as if they were fifth years. On the second Thursday night after school commenced, Professor Ogliothorpe gave them all a quiz which required them to name the eighty-eight constellations.

One day, in History of Magic, about a fortnight after the first day, a girl who shared Lily's dormitories raised her hand. She had never spoken before, not in all that time, even when a teacher called on her. Bethany and Susan had tried to elicit a word out of her, but to no avail.

"Uh…Miss Vadersky?" Professor Binns asked, his eyes wide as if a student never interrupted him before.

"I don't believe that Gonwon the Greedy really wore a crown made of antelope bones."

"It is historical fact, Miss Vadersky. I advise you to check _Goblins in Power _by Janet Oblong, published 1933. Now, as I was saying—"

"I don't believe what is written in books are facts," the girl continued.

Professor Binns stared. "That's the most inane remark I ever heard. I suggest you leave the classroom until someone can add some corks to your brain that appear to be missing."

"Glad to," the girl said. She grabbed her things and left. The other Hufflepuffs stared after her, until Professor Binns' voice lulled them into a stupor.

When the class left, they saw that the strange and hitherto silent girl had stood outside the classroom the whole time. But now her witch's hat was red with white stripes. One of the Muggle-borns in the group remarked that it resembled a candy-cane. The kids with wizards for parents didn't know what candy-canes were.

The rest of the Hufflepuffs returned to the dormitory. The odd girl did not follow them, and neither did Lily.

"Hi," said Lily.

"Oh, hello," said the other girl.

"I'm Lily Potter."

"Lorna Veedle."

"Didn't Professor Binns call you something else?"

"Yes, well, he's not very _attuned _to the world. After all, he teaches History of Magic, doesn't he?"

"I suppose you're right. So, are your parents upset that you're a Hufflepuff?"

Lorna smiled. "My parents are Muggles. They could care less."

"Oh. I fear that my parents will hate it. This House is almost as bad as being in Slytherin."

"I wouldn't say that around any of our consorts."

"Consorts?" Lily asked.

"I don't know what it means either. I just like the way it sounds. I'm that way. Just be mum about this in front of the other Hufflepuffs."

"I will. Hey, how'd you get your hat like that?"

Lorna broke into a broad grin. "A sixth-year did it for me. I really like candy-canes." Then she walked off.

At dinner that night, Lily sat next to Lorna in the Great Hall. Susan crunched up her nose; for the last two weeks she had been trying to get Lily to be _her _friend. But no, Lily had to go for the oddest person in their year.

"So, how was life in a Muggle household?" Lily asked Lorna. "My dad grew up in one, but so did my Aunt Hermione, and their experiences are so different. Dad lived with his aunt and uncle who hated him, and Auntie had both her parents, dentists."

"My parents are historians," said Lorna. "I have one older brother, and when he saw my letter to Hogwarts, he complained that he wasn't invited to. He's always been a fan of magic tricks. 'Legerdemain,' he calls them, but I'm not sure he knows that means."

"Magic tricks?"

"Oh, pulling rabbits out of hats, sawing a woman in half and putting her back together again, et cetera."

"Do those really work?" Lily said, pulling a bowl of mashed potatoes toward her.

"Well, yes, though one time he pulled a jaguar out of his hat and it ate my uncle."

Lily's eyes bulged in fright.

"Kidding, I'm kidding."

"I knew that," Lily said, though Lorna wasn't convinced.

"It's so odd here," Lorna said.

"Odd in what way?"

"Well, for starters, we use quills and parchment instead of pen and paper. I feel like I stepped back into medieval times."

A boy overhearing them, turned to them and said, "Hogwarts was built in medieval times, so it makes sense that we'd keep things the same. Are you Muggle-born?"

"Yes," said Lorna. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing. I'm Jeremy Spencer. I read a lot. Learning is my sanctuary."

"That's a peculiar sentence."

"Good, I hoped it was. I'm full of them."

"What about you?" Lily asked Jeremy. "Are your parents Muggles or wizards?"

"My mum's a stenographer. My pap works in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic."

"Ah," said Lily.

"Come on, let's go back to the common room," Lorna said. "I've got to finish that essay for Uvburn."

"Me too."

"I'll join you," said Jeremy. "I already know everything there is to know about Bulgarian glowworms. I finished my essay only an hour after the assignment was given."

Neither of the girls protested, though they weren't sure they liked Jeremy. He read some of their paragraphs as they were writing their essays and made comments like, "No, no, the first Bulgarian glowworm wasn't found in Bulgaria; it was actually in the Sahara desert," or "Mint chocolate is _not _an adequate substitute for bananas when a glowworm enters you. Try cold spaghetti or peanut butter waffles."

They were happy to return to the dormitories when they finished, both hoping that Jeremy would leave them alone if they ignored him.

But Jeremy wouldn't leave them alone. He ate all his meals with them. He walked to class beside them, and always read their essays while they were composing them. When they practiced the Mourning Syrup Potion for Professor Hamflox, Jeremy would force them to use his cauldron. (He also told them that he preferred the name, "Draught of Tears," for the potion they were making, but he didn't have the courage to tell that to Professor Hamflox, for fear she'd make some rude remark about Jeremy travelling back in time and telling the Potion Naming Council that _he _would decide the names of all the potions, and they were fired from duty.) He even followed them into the bathroom once.

"_Jeremy! This is a girl's bathroom!"_

"Oh, sorry." He blushed and walked out, going to the boy's room across the hall.

"How can we get rid of him?" Lily asked one night, about a week after they met Jeremy.

"We could hire a Heffalump to scare him silly," Lorna suggested.

"What's a Heffalump?"

"You don't know that? Oh, of course not, silly me. Of course kids born from wizard families wouldn't know anything about Winnie-the-Pooh."

"I wonder if my father does. As I told you before, he was raised by Muggles."

"Yes, well, about our Jeremy problem. We could stick in large groups. You know, crowd him out."

"I don't like the idea of that. We wouldn't be able to talk to one another in a large group."

"I suppose not. Maybe if we simply tell him we're sincerely vexed?"

"Boys are too subtle for that."

"Well, I can't think of anything, besides plans that would be dubbed 'Ludicrity.' Like painting him red and white like a candy cane."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Lily exclaimed.

"No, it's ridiculous. And even if we _did _do it, he wouldn't know it was us."

"Unless we leave a note."

"Lily, you're crazy. We'll get in big trouble."

"I'm a Potter. We _live _for trouble. Except Albus. He's always a goody two-shoes." Lily's bitterness at her House placement now shifted to bitterness towards her siblings.

"Well, I guess I'm game if you are."

"I'm game."

"Then let's do it!"

They waited until the next night, because they wanted to ask Jeremy if he knew how to make a color-altering potion. It turned out he did.

"Does it work on human flesh?" Lily asked innocently.

"Certainly," Jeremy said. "But please don't use that f-word around me. It gives me the creeps." He then proceeded to show them how to create the different hues. "Tomorrow we can work on more complex ones, like orange-yellow and beige, but I think the primary and secondary colors are enough for today."

"What about white and black?" Lorna queried.

"That requires sand from a desert lizard's belly. I have a jar of it in a duffel bag upstairs. Would you like me to bring it?"

The girls said they would. Jeremy ran to fetch the jar. Lily had never seen black sand before. "This makes it white as well?"

"Sure, as long as you concentrate on the word _albistoria. _It's quite simple really."

But it wasn't simple at all. It took Lorna three hours to learn it. Lily barely got it. Lorna would have to do the white parts, while Lily did the red.

They waited until two in the morning, when they figured all the Hufflepuff first years would be sound asleep. They headed to the boys' dormitories with their materials, including the black sand which had once been in a desert lizard's gastronomic tract. They listened briefly outside the door and heard nothing. Opening the door very slowly, they saw that most of the beds were encased in curtains. Only one wasn't, and that was Midley Hooton's. He was a scrawny boy with dark hair, and he had a stuffed rabbit in his hands.

"I wonder which bed is Jeremy's," Lily whispered.

"Probably that one," whispered Lorna, pointing to a bed in the far corner of the room, with books on both sides and piled high at the end of the bed. If Lily had cared to look at them, she would've seen that they ranged in scope from trashy American novels to Encyclopedias of particle physics to _Advanced Spellwork _and _How to Raise a Squib in Fifteen Years._

They approached the bed and pulled the curtains back as silently as possible. Lily mixed some melted glass with a crimson dye Jeremy had showed them how to make, and applied it in a line across Jeremy's forehead. Lorna then applied a line of white beneath that, after whispering, _"Albistoria," _and holding her wand to the black sand. Lily painted another red one beneath that, and they continued in this way till his face was colored (avoiding the eyes and lips). Then they did this to his arms, making the lines a little thicker than they were on his face. When Lily had finished painting the bottom half of Jeremy's hand red, he stirred, and they feared he would awaken. But he remained still.

Lily placed a note on his chest, and Lorna replaced the curtains with an eerie silence. They both struggled hard to keep from giggling as they ambled out of the room.

The next morning, Jeremy got dressed without realizing that his hand was painted. It wasn't until Midley pointed at him and said, "What on earth has happened to you?" that he noticed anything.

The note had slipped off his chest and landed in the sea of books he had knocked over when he got out of his bed. He rebuilt the wall of books, but the note was gone under the bed.

He took a bath instead of going to Herbology that day, and stopped Lily and Lorna before they entered Professor Uvburn's classroom. "Guys, I didn't miss anything important during Herbology, did I? Oh, what am I saying, of course I didn't. I already know more than Professor Longbottom. The strangest thing happened to me this morning—"

"It's time for class, Mr. Spencer," said Professor Uvburn. "You can continue your story afterward."

Lily looked at Lorna. Apparently their ploy had been a failure.


	4. Chapter 4

**Lily Potter and the Uppas of Declome**

**Chapter Four**

After Defense Against the Dark Arts was over, Jeremy told the girls about what had happened to him.

"And they didn't leave a note?" Lily asked.

"None I saw."

"How fiendish," Lorna said. "And I don't even know what fiendish means!"

"Guys, I'm afraid to go to sleep again."

"It was just a little paint," said Lily. "Nothing to fret about."

"Simple for you to say. You did not wake up this morning looking like a—"

"A what?"

"A candy cane." Jeremy's eyes became clear with understanding. "Oh, it's so obvious who did this! How very puerile of them."

Lorna looked at Lily. Jeremy was so clueless. "Who did it, then?"

"Well, I don't know _exactly. _But it must be some of the other Hufflepuff first years. The ones who laughed at Lorna for her candy-cane colored hat."

"As I remember," said Lily, "_you _were one of the ones who laughed at her hat."

"Only because it was strange and unfamiliar," Jeremy said. "And I wasn't your friend at the time. But now that I am, somebody is plotting against me. To make _me _look ridiculous for having ridiculous friends."

Lorna stared at him coldly. Lily could tell it was an act. "If we're so _ridiculous _in your eyes, maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore." Then both girls got up and stormed off in mock anger.

"Wait, guys! I apologize for being insensitive! Come back!"

But they paid no heed. And for once, Jeremy did not follow them.

Jeremy gave Lily and Lorna notes during class, which if they had read them might've caused them to pity him. But they did not read them. Lily chewed them as if they were sticks of gum. Lorna set them on fire using a spell Jeremy had taught her only a couple of days before they painted his skin red and white. After three days, Jeremy gave up. He stopped talking to anybody in the Great Hall, and he was rarely in the common room, spending most of the time in the library since that was his sanctuary against neglect.

Lily was happier now that she had a friend who was an adept exterminator of pests. (Lorna said she had a lot of practice with her older brother.) So Lily decided to try her hand at peering in the Hufflepuff pool again.

She glanced around carefully when she entered the common room. Jeremy might be hiding somewhere. She knew he was usually in the library, but Bethany had whispered to her and Lorna that she had seen Jeremy making blueprints, apparently with the attempt of accosting the girls so that he could force them to be his friend again. Thus she had to be wary.

Perceiving that he was not there, she boldly stepped forward to the pool. She was just about to peer into it when a coughing sound caused her head to turn to a kid in a chintz chair. He was a corpulent fifth year, and he was just staring straight ahead.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked him.

He did not answer. He just sat there. Lily couldn't even tell whether he was blinking, and it unnerved her.

"Hey, you! What are you staring at?"

Another boy came up to Lily. "Leave Stumpster alone," he said.

"Stumpster? Is that his name? But why is he just sitting there?"

"That's his idio-syn-crasy," the boy split the word into syllables, believing that if he said it as one word, Lily would be unable to catch it. "Do you know what that means?"

"No."

"It means he sits on his butt all day and does nothing."

"Oh. But isn't it his O.W.L. year?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I heard that in the fifth year you have a ton of work to do."

"Indeed. We have no time to waste."

"Then why is he wasting his time?" Lily wished to know.

"Because he's Stumpster. Now, are you going to leave him alone or will I have to knock your teeth out?"

"I'll leave him alone," Lily said meekly. She stepped toward the pool and did her best to ignore the staring boy and his glaring friend.

She looked into the pool, and felt a thrill of joy go through her. Then, she saw her parents sitting at the table in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Harry and Ginny were talking, but Lily couldn't hear a thing they were saying. Holly Jester, the female prefect who had guided the first years to their dormitories on the first day, had told them later that the use of Extendable Ears would aid in hearing the family members one saw in the pool. Lily pulled a pair out that her Uncle George had given her for her last birthdayy and put them in her ears. Then she let them fall into the water.

"She's a big disappointment," Harry was saying. "A failure in life. We ought to write here out of our will."

"Yes," said Ginny. "That girl's more trouble than she's worth. But I never thought one of our family would go sour."

"It's happening everywhere," Harry said. "Great wizards turning out bad kids. Look at Euan Abercrombie. Derek Azzos. Daphne Greengrass. All their kids are practicing Dark Arts now. To think that this could happen with a grandchild of Arthur Weasley, too!"

"Helga Hufflepuff will be proud of the fiend she has created. It's such a shame that—"

But Lily never got to hear the end of her mother's sentence. Misery had overcome her. Her parents thought she was a failure. That she could understand, and it hurt terribly. But that they could accuse her of practicing the Dark Arts? That was unforgivable. She hated them! For the eleven years of her existence, her parents had pretended to love her, and now they were accusing her of engaging in the Dark Arts without proof!

She ran to her room and cried. Lorna came to talk to her, but she shooed her away. Susan Azzos also came up, and Lily yelled at her. But Susan would not budge.

"I will not leave until you tell me what's wrong," Susan said. Lily thought she had some nerve.

"Go away!" Lily shrieked.

"No!" Susan stood firm.

"I'm not telling you anything."

"You'd better, dear Lily. Did that Mudblood swine hurt your feelings? Susan is here to make it all better." Susan patted Lily's knee.

"I don't know who you are talking about," Lily said.

"Of course you do. That Lebba or whatever her name is."

"Don't you dare insult Lorna."

"So, she didn't hurt you? Then who did?"

"I already told you that I'm telling you nothing."

"Lily, I have been trying to show you that I'm the only friend you have this school. Now confide in me."

"Never!"

"Lily, I'm warning you. I'm an accomplished Legilimens, and I will use my power on you if I have to."

This caused Lily to scoff. "An accomplished Legilimens, my foot. You're a first year, like me. You just started studying magic, which means you can't possibly be skilled at anything yet."

Susan stared at Lily coldly. "Don't question what I'm capable of. I will give you one hour. If you do not tell me what's upset you by the end of that time, I shall pry it out of you. Make fun of me, if you wish. But I'll do it."

"Is that a threat? What if I told Professor Oglithorpe?" Professor Ogliothorpe was the Head of Hufflepuff. She was the first Head of House to teach Astronomy since 1674. And she wasn't a particularly pleasant lady to be around. She once took ten points away from Hufflepuff because Lily and Lorna playing Gobstones-on-a-Broomstick in an empty classroom, a game that started becoming popular four years before. Professor Oglithorpe had said, "Games are not allowed in empty classrooms," though Lily was certain that rule didn't actually exist. Jeremy might know, since he read everything. But at that time both girls had already wanted to get rid of him, and so they hadn't asked.

"Professor Ogliothorpe does not care about the petty affairs of first years," Susan said, smiling wickedly.

Lily knew this to be true. Susan left her after saying, "One hour." But Lily did not plan to spend that hour being idle. She would seek out a place to hide from Susan. Hogwarts was a big place after all.

She spent twenty minutes looking for a hiding spot before she realized the futility of this endeavor. She'd have to go to sleep _sometime, _and she shared all of her classes with Susan. It'd be impossible to avoid Susan forever.

Then again, maybe Susan was just lying about the Legilimens thing. It just seemed too improbable that a witch just starting to learn magic would know how to do something so advanced. Auntie Hermione had explained to her all about Legilimens once, and Lily distinctly remembered her saying, "People below the fourth year at Hogwarts would never be able to perform it." And when had her aunt ever been wrong before? But now—

Lily wasn't watching where she was going, and she bumped into a tall kid with dark hair.

"Get away from me, brat!" the boy said.

"Easy, Morfkar, it's just a first year," said the boy's friend, who stood next to him. This boy had green spiky hair. If Lily had been a Muggle-born, she would've thought this character had crawled out of a manga or anime. "Morfkar's not keen on little kids," the boy said. "The name's Ralph. And who might you be?"

"L-Lily. Lily Potter."

"Oh, your James' little sister? He's in our year, that chap. Spends a lot of time with that Kyle bloke, though."

Lily could sense that these boys didn't like her brother's taste in friends. It sounded like Susan's own antipathy to Lorna. Lily started to edge away.

"Hey, where you going little whippersnapper?" Ralph asked. "We're not going to hurt you. What choo running from, anyhow?"

"Um…a crazy ghost who haunts a toilet on the fourth floor," Lily hastily invented.

The boys laughed. "Like we'd buy that!" said Ralph. "C'mon, give us a _real _explanation. Did you tick Brodd off?"

"No." Lily had not seen the gamekeeper since the first day, when he had the first years travel to the castle in little boats.

"Is Peeves chasing you?"

"No."

"What about Isanor?"

"Of course not!"

Isanor was a new poltergeist who had moved into the castle since Lily's father's day. She and Peeves were supposedly in love, though this was uncharacteristic of Peeves. But Isanor only came out when Peeves needed some real chaos to prevent himself from getting extremely bored by doing the same things over and over, like dropping water balloons or the heads of armor on the heads of unwary first and second years. When Peeves summoned Isanor, usually chairs and knives and other real hazards were dropped from a great height.

"Well, then, what's the trouble?"

Lily had no idea what made her spill her guts. Maybe something in Ralph's eyes. But she started rambling, "I am running from a first year girl in my House who says that she can use Legilimens and she _will _use it on me to find out what is troubling me because she wants to force me to be her friend. Then if I tell her, I don't know what she'll do but probably something unpleasant. And the thing she wants me to tell her is that my parents hate me because I'm in Hufflepuff and they suspect that I practice the Dark Arts, which would be incredibly silly since my dad is the most famous Auror alive. And Susan wants to take my friend Lorna away from me, probably because she wants me all to herself! That selfish prig!" She said all this in one breath and had to breathe hard at the end to get back her homeostasis.

"Whoa, Lila, did you say your name was?"

"Lily?"

"Okay, Lily. A first year can't use Legilimens. That's like somebody creating all the rules for Quidditich after seeing one ball. Impossible," said Ralph.

"I figured that, but suppose she dapples in the Dark Arts and—"

"Lily, hold it. You say your parents are accusing you of practicing the Dark Arts without any proof, and here you are doing the same thing to this girl. Please be consistent."

"I guess you're right." But Ralph and Morfkar had not seen Susan's evil smile. If she wasn't evil, who was?

"There's another thing. Only members of Slytherin have gone bad. Susan is in Hufflepuff. Maybe she's just threatening you because she wants a little of your attention."

"She doesn't want a little of my attention. She wants _all _of my attention."

"Well, Morfkar," Ralph said to his friend, "it sounds like we got a case on our hands."

"Case?" Lily asked.

"Me and Morfkar want to be detectives," Ralph explained. "His parents are Muggles, and he showed me some books about a man named Sherlock Holmes. They were all so fascinating that I asked my father about wizarding detectives, and he said that they are in nearly as much demand as in the Muggle world!" He seemed so elated. "Anyhow, for you, I think we can seek out information about this girl, to see if she really can use Legilimens or not. Just tell us her name and we'll get back to you as soon as we can."

Morfkar pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. Lily told the boys Susan's first and last name. It wasn't until they disappeared around the corridor that she remembered that there'd be no time for them to find out whether Susan could do Legilimency or not before Susan used it on Lily…unless Lily gave her the information she wished to know willingly.

She went to the library. At least she could hide out there until Ralph and Morfkar reported back. Susan never entered the library.

She sat down at a table not far from Jeremy. She smiled at him, for she had temporarily forgotten that she wasn't supposed to like him. He took her grin as an invitation to come over.

"Lily, I'm really sorry about what I did."

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry."

"For what?"

He looked at her, puzzled. "For insulting Lorna, and you for hanging out with her."

"Oh, that." Lily had no idea what to say. But she needed a friend now, with Susan's threat hanging over her head. So she said, "All is forgiven."

"Really? You have no idea what a relief this is." Jeremy's eyes were shining.

"Yes, well…"

"Well, what?"

"What do you know about Legilimency?"

"That it's a very difficult thing to do. Why?"

"How long does it take to learn to counter it?"

"As long as it takes to learn it. Some learn faster than others, though. It could take you five weeks, or three months, or eight years. Actually, the only person who took eight years had an IQ of about 39.7. So I guess four to five months is the longest."

"I don't have that much time," Lily said in an undertone, though Jeremy still heard it.

"Why would you need to learn Occlumency?"

"Because a girl in our year is planning to use Legilimency on me."

"A girl in our year? You're kidding, right?"

"No. It's no joke."

"Empty threat, Lily. It's impossible for a first year to be a Legilimens."

"So says the dork who reads books all day," came a snotty voice.

Both of them turned around. Susan was there, a gleam in her eye. "Go away, Vince. I have business with Lily."

"First of all, my name is Jeremy, and if you think I'm letting you harm Lily, you're out of your pench."

"Scrawny boy, big words," said Susan. "Girls, take him away."

Three sixth-years lifted Jeremy up and carried him off. If Jeremy had been older, he might've had a crush on them, for they were beautiful. They carried him to the front of the library and one on them struck her foot into his buttocks, hard. "Don't come in again until Susan is finished with your Lily," one of them said.

Susan waited for the three girls to return. The sixth-years used the Muffliato spell on the people at the surrounding tables, so that they wouldn't be able to hear what Susan and Lily were saying.

"Tell me what I wish to know!" Susan shouted. Inside she was thinking how grateful she was for the Muffliato spell, though she herself did not know it, which was one reason she needed the sixth-years. Not to mention that one was her sister, Megara Azzos.

"Never," Lily said, coldly.

"Then you leave me no choice." Susan pulled out her wand, whispered a word that Lily did not catch, and Lily felt her body tumble to the ground. She saw random images from her life…the birthday when she turned three, and Albus sneezed on the cake, causing her to go crying in tears…a time when she was eight and found a seashell on the beach…the previous Christmas, when it was announced that the Minister of Magic had choked himself…and finally, the image of her looking into the pool, and hearing the caustic things her parents had said.

"Ah, I see. Now I know what was troubling you," Susan said. "I will be your mother from now on. Your birth-mother doesn't care for you. She thinks you are an evil witch who practices the Dark Arts. I will be to you what she should've been, if she had cared."

Lily tried to say that what Susan was saying was outrageous, that her mother probably made a mistake. But one of the sixth-year girls had her knee on Lily's chest. "I think you ought to hypnotize her, sis," the girl said.

"Hypnotize? No, Meg. I want her to see me as a mother of her own free will."

"Susan, I've been on this earth longer than you have. Trust me, we must put her under hypnosis.

"Don—" Lily attempted to say, but Megara pressed her knee down harder on Lily's chest. She found it hard to breathe.

"I don't want her to be hypnotized," Susan said. "I just want her to see me as a mother, that is all."

"And for that, you need hypnosis," Megara insisted.

"Someone is looking this way," one of the other sixth-years warned.

Meg lifted Lily and cast a gagging spell so that Lily wouldn't be able to scream. Then she cast another spell which handcuffed Lily and Susan together.

The other girls led the way to an empty classroom, and Lily had to go where Susan went because of the handcuffs. She did try to scream several times. Jeremy stared at her as she swept past him. He did not see the handcuffs, and though Lily tried to contact him with her eyes, he failed to catch the message. What he perceived was that Lily wanted to go with these girls, and he would not have her blissful companionship for some hours.

Once in the classroom, Megara directed Susan on how to perform the hypnosis spell. Susan kept insisting that she didn't want to do it. But Megara wouldn't listen. At last, Susan attempted to do the spell, but she said, "I can't do it," after a few minutes.

"Honestly!" Megara said, throwing up her hands. "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself."

Once she had done the Hypnosis Spell, Meg said, "Close your eyes. When I clap my hands three times, you will open your eyes. Now, everything I say you must do, as soon as your eyes open. Treat my sister as a mother. Go everywhere she does. Do the chores she lays out for you. Avoid the people she tells you to avoid. Live to please her. And know that your biological mother has disowned you. This is why Susan must act as a surrogate. You are hers, and she is yours."

Meg clapped her hands three times.


End file.
